The present invention relates generally to processing of semiconductor wafers in a plurality of processing systems. More specifically, it relates to controlling the operation of devices in such processing systems.
Generally, the industry of semiconductor manufacturing involves highly complex techniques for fabricating integrating circuits from semiconductor materials that are layered and patterned onto a substrate, such as silicon, by various process systems. For example, a first process system deposits a layer of material, while another process system etches a pattern in such deposited material.
A plurality of hardware I/O controllers are typically used to control various components in each process system. Generally, software is customized so as to control the particular types of I/O controller devices that are present in each particular process system since different types of I/O controllers require different control protocol. This software scheme has several disadvantages. For example, the software for controlling hardware of one type of process system cannot be used to control hardware on another type of process system having different hardware. Additionally, if the hardware of a process system is changes in any way, e.g., replaced or upgraded, the software for controlling the pervious hardware typically will not operate properly, if at all, for the new hardware. For instance, existing hardware that is controlled using a first type of interface protocol may be replaced by new hardware that utilizes a second, different type of interface protocol. That is, the commands and format of communicating with various types of hardware can radically vary so that the control software for one hardware device cannot control a different type of hardware device. When a hardware device is replaced with a device having a different control protocol, the software typically also has to be replaced or changed significantly. The software will likely have to be changed throughout since the hardware-dependent software portions are typically integrated throughout the software code. The amount of time required to alter control software can be a significant barrier to implementing hardware changes in a process system.
Accordingly, it would be beneficial to provide a more generic interface for controlling various types of hardware devices that utilize various communication protocols. That is, what is needed is an I/O interface that can be utilized to control a heterogeneous mixture of hardware I/O devices without requiring significant software changes for hardware changes.